Consumer Debt Levels – Moar! Moar! Moar!

No, the above is not a typo. According to urbandictionary.com “moar” is a combination of more and roar. We thought it to be the best fitting headline when it comes to addressing the Canadian consumer’s apparently insatiable appetite for debt.

Debt is technically a noun, but to simple laymen like us here at Case, has debt not also become more of an action along with being a thing? Can we then assume that debt can also now qualify to be a verb? If so what does that make “moar”; an adjective describes a noun (a thing), but if debt is an action (a verb), does that make it and adverb? Perhaps there is a reader of our post out there with an English major that can weigh in with a comment on this.

Our conclusion to all of this; not only do record debt levels threaten our financial stability but debt also appears to have become a threat to good grammar and the English language!

The total amount of credit market debt — which includes mortgages, non-mortgage loans and consumer credit — held by Canadian households hit a record high in the third quarter (July – Sept 2014), climbing to 162.6 per cent of disposable income from a revised 161.5 per cent in the second quarter.

That means Canadians owed about $1.63 for every dollar of disposable income, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.

The previous record for household debt was set a year ago, in the third quarter of 2013, when the total amount of debt held by Canadians equaled 161.7 per cent of disposable income

Canadian households borrowed $27.4 billion in the quarter, primarily for mortgages, Statistics Canada said. In total, the country’s household debt burden ticked up 1.5 per cent to $1.805 trillion — a gain roughly on par with the gain in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, household net worth climbed 1.3 per cent in the quarter, after a 2.2 per cent increase the previous quarter. On a per capita basis, household net worth was $232,200.

According to many economists a sustained period of low interest rates has allowed Canadians to rack up record levels of debt which, along with tumbling oil prices, pose a threat to the country’s financial stability (not to mention the English language).

Case Receivable Management Inc. is dedicated to reducing the financial losses of our clients through the expeditious recovery of their aged receivables and bad debts. By way of negotiations, diplomacy, skill, and respect for the individual it is our mission to mitigate the potential financial losses of our clients while leaving their customers feeling that they have been treated professionally and with dignity.